Nintendo eShop Update: That's 'Ware Carmen Sandiego is!

The queen of edutainment makes her return to gaming while the 3DS VC finally gets a second Game Boy Color game.

By Lucas M. Thomas

It's that time of the week again, as Nintendo's three different download destinations all have new software to offer.

The two big standout news items for this week are the fact that a second Game Boy Color game has finally arrived for the 3DS virtual console and that classic PC edutainment character Carmen Sandiego is making her return to video games courtesy of Nintendo's systems.

And now, this week's reviews:

REVIEWS

Elite Forces: Unit 77

First up for DSiWare is a game we already played two and a half years ago. That's because Elite Forces: Unit 77 is an old cartridge DS game getting a second chance through digital distribution. Unfortunately for us, though, this is a game that didn't really deserve a second look.

Click over to our full review for a more detailed critique, which will give you a good sense of what you'd be getting into here -- a squad-based, slow-paced, third-person military shooter with touchy touch screen controls. I have to admit that the version delivered today is superior to the old cartridge edition because they added multiplayer.

Craig commented that this game was "screaming for multiplayer" in that 2009 review, and surprisingly it seems the developers were listening. Rather than deliver the same game to DSiWare, the team went back and implemented four-player support. Now you and up to three friends can each take command of a different squad member and blast the bad guys together.

Since the lack of multiplayer support was a key critique Craig had, it's important to acknowledge the improvement that its presence represents. But the underlying game is still hampered by its slow pacing and poor controls, so even a newly-added mode can't salvage the entire product.

Elite Forces: Unit 77 was mediocre back in 2009, and not worth its asking price of 30 bucks. It's a bit better here in 2011, and the price is nicer now at just eight dollars -- but I still wouldn't really recommend it.

DSi Shop: 800 Points | 3DS eShop: $7.99

WordJong Arcade

Another DSiWare release that has ties to DS's past is WordJong Arcade, a follow-up to 2007's WordJong. It was an addictive word puzzler that mashed up the games of Scrabble and Mahjong. You follow traditional Mahjong rules of picking tiles one at a time off of a stack to unlock more tiles layered below, but to eliminate them completely you've got to create English words using the letters printed on each one.

WordJong Arcade introduces a couple of new modes for that basic design. The titular Arcade mode promotes fast-paced play, as you score more points for piecing together words quickly. There are also power-ups that help you out of tough situations and no "undo" option, so you've got to be certain of your moves before you make them.

Then there's Yin Yang mode, which paints half the tiles white and the other half black, and only one of the colors is worth points. It adds another layer of strategy, and it's also playable in two-player Hot Seat mode. Here each player is assigned one of the colors, and the back-and-forth decision making can get pretty intriguing. I might be the player assigned to black, for instance, meaning only black tiles will score points for me -- but I might choose to use some of the white ones anyway, because that means my opponent won't be able to use them.

As replayable as WordJong is, this download's getting a solid recommendation from me -- I already know my wife and I will keep battling back and forth in the two-player mode for a while. The only thing missing from WordJong Arcade is a "normal" WordJong mode without any special rules applied -- had that been included, this download could have really soared.

DSi Shop: 800 Points | 3DS eShop: $7.99

Just SING! Christmas Vol. 3

Oh, for Santa's sake -- they made another one of these? These Just SING! DSiWare downloads have never been good. They're just far too limited in selection -- they're karaoke games, but each one only has a handful of songs to choose from.

The '80s edition had just four songs. The National Anthems version had five, but only two of those were in English. And now we've got Just SING! Christmas Vol. 3, with a whopping two whole songs to sing. Yeah.

The karaoke gameplay's the same as always, trying to keep your voice on pitch as you sing along to the two included tunes. Those classic carols, this time around, are "Oh Christmas Tree" and "Joy to the World."

Even with an asking price of only two bucks, two total songs aren't going to cut it. Maybe if all of the different Volumes of Christmas tunes had been combined into one download, this might have been worth a look. As it is, it's easy to keep this one off your Christmas wishlist.

DSi Shop: 200 Points | 3DS eShop: $1.99

That covers this week's new releases for DSiWare, but we've still got two more reviews to go. Turn the page to get the verdict on the latest WiiWare and 3DS Virtual Console releases.